There must be no violence. But the government must concede its inability to govern, allow new elections, tackle corruption, open to Europe and offer more than mere words to the hopes & aspirations of Ukrainian people.

Excellent slogans. Not applicable to Ukrainian reality. Lets not be surprise with violent acts of resistance from that part of the world - asymmetric response to unjust treatment is quite real. Unless West stops cashing on Ukrainian gangsters in power right now.

But ultimately, both sides pulled back. Several dozen people are hospitalized and dozens of journalists have been arrested - that's terrible. But however tense matters are, this is not a bloody civil war and never will be.

In Syria, the West think that it is very worthy to have a prolonged and drag out Civil wars between the extremist "fascist linked groups" against the government to achieve the Beast sloganeering of Change, Change, Change.

Right, that's the Yanukovich's idea – to wear the protesters out by gimmickry, harsh weather and vague threats. No carrots, just trickery. The opposition is flattering itself – he won't budge an inch; even if he does, it would be just tactics.
PS: one of good options to help Ukraine would be to translate this article into Russian and put it all over the place in the Eastern and Southern Ukraine. It'd be a vital brain-cleansing, cheap and effective.

I agree with your take on Yanukovich - but I'm not sure how translating & disseminating this article all over Eastern and Southern Ukraine would have any impact - those regions support Yanukovich. I would guess the bulk of the 'goons' bussed in to tamp down the protesters came from those regions.

The majority of that population is perefectly aware of Yanukovich's brutal ways, and are in full support of it. They mostly support the idea of siding with Russia, and shoving off the EU and the US as well.

The folks there are partly product of the Soviet past, Yanuk/Putin's brainwashing (“those who speak Ukrainian are Nazis”, “Europe just wants our money/resources”, “the Russian and Ukrainian peoples are forever bla-bla-bla” ... ), partly hostages of the employers (almost all part of the Party of Regions), partly afraid of even thinking of the alternatives, partly indifferent/cynical and so on.
I wouldn't generalise too much as to their awareness of the situation and their attitudes towards the West. The best we can do is to show them that there is an alternative to anything and their lives and votes count.
Forget the article, definitely there are other ways to help them see other sides of the problem and options to deal with it. The Soviet empire was brought down not only by the arms race, but also by the BBC and Voice of America.

How do you know that Yanukovych has support in the East of Ukraine? Because people are not protesting in arms does not mean support. The majority is fed up with him and the mafia. His personal rating is at best near 15% and goes down every month sharply... He is a toast and will be lucky to stay alive!

In addition to paying tough guys (so-called "titushky") to go to Kyiv to provoke violence against the pro-democracy protesters, the authorities are coercing people to attend pro-government rallies (in places like Dnipropetrovsk) by threatening to fire them from their jobs.

Notably, Ukrainian "nationalism" has always been primarily about SURVIVAL /self-defense /independence /defense of Ukrainian language in the face of the Russian onslaught - not about colonizing others. Many W. Ukrainians initially figured the Germans had to be more civilized than the Russians/Stalin, who just a few yrs earlier had murdered millions of E. Ukrainians by artificial starvation. But they soon found out the Nazis had other plans for Ukraine - i.e. slave labor - and Germans promptly arrested all the top Ukrainian leaders/patriots. (In the beginning of WWII, the Russians & Germans even exchanged lists of Ukrainian patriots that should be targeted)... So the Ukrainian resistance was fighting two totalitarian regimes - w/armed conflicts against Soviets continuing into the 1950s.

Sadly the EU is weak and toothless and Obama is unlikely to step up to the challenge. The only leader of a major power who is actively engaged in the Ukrainian crisis is Putin. The conclusion, therefore, is inescapable: Yanukovych will triumph, lead Ukraine into the death-grip of Russia, and continue as President-for-Life until Putin gets tired of his stupidity and replaces him with someone even more venal and thuggish. I weep for all my Ukrainian friends (Russian speakers and Ukrainian speakers together) who are doomed to suffer repression and stagnation in consequence.

If only the West was truly as active as Putin's ranting pretends, a better outcome might be possible. What an irony.

More apt would be a massive fundraising drive for those demonstrating and striking (food, fuel, sleeping bags, networking, concerts, etc), empowering civil society to hold its government to account (despite a tough winter).

The Ukrainian government knows that if the military become involved and live shooting begins, Poland would have boots on the ground within hours - and Poland would be backed by the EU & NATO. Armed conflagration won't happen - for that would be Yanukovych committing suicide.

The thieves & thugs running Ukraine only hope to win by attrition (by ignoring reality as much as possible, and giving no reward to those that stand for freedom). Well, we must ensure that demonstrators have enough financial support that they can outlast their bankrupt government. Sad that nobody seems to have yet setup a private donation channel - I'm sure readers of this article would contribute plenty.

actually, there is a way to contribute: via the United Ukr. American Relief Committee -https://www.facebook.com/uuarc They've been around for 70 yrs helping orphans, elderly "shut-ins", creating soup kitchens, helping former political prisoners (1960s era intellectuals who did hard labor in Siberia for writing in their native language or defending other dissidents imprisoned on spurious charges).

re: so-called fascism - let's not forget Soviets/ Russians were the first Nazi collaborators w/ their Molotov-Ribbentrop non-aggression pact of 1939-41. In the 1920s-30s, when Germany was prohibited from re-arming itself, USSR gave them tons of raw materials, military training opportunities + education in running concentration camps, genocide

Finally, although East/Southern Ukraine are very Russified (after 350 yrs of domination, ethnic cleansing (i.e Famine-Holodomor of 1932-33), importation of Russian colonists into decimated Ukrainian villages, murder of Ukr. Orthodox & Ukrainian Catholic clergy, etc.)- the country is NOT as divided as western press + Russians make it out to be... the pro-democracy protests are rapidly spreading ALL over Ukraine - even to Russified places like Donetsk (Yanukovych's stronghold), Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkassy, etc.

1) the government in Ukraine must reconcile with the interests and aspirations of Ukraine's people, or stand down and allow new elections. If the government fails at reconciliation and allows another month of general strike, it will probably fall.

2) if the government uses military apparatus (Syria style) to attack peaceful demonstrations, then neighboring countries will inevitably intervene. Common ties are strong; too many influential Polish & Swedish politicians and cultural figures have been to Ukraine in recent weeks. Yanukovych cannot use military power and expect to remain in office even for a couple of weeks afterwards.

The U.S. is very far away in all senses of the word and unfortunately very self-absorbed and indifferent to overseas issues.
The thugs and knaves have businesses, residences, and bank accounts in London and throughout the EU. After all, they are already "in Europe" but they deny their citizens European values. EU and national authorities have many ways to send a signal...

I'm American and I'm super pissed our media is not covering this 100%...instead they care about stupid football and Kim Kardashian. Thats what makes headline news here. They when I do look online and find something...the story is different than what my wife reads that's in Ukrainian language. Our country acts like they are mediators but USA wants to see everyone under USA rule....they do not care one bit about whats going on in your country. They stopped showing Syria, the Fukishima incident that killing the Earth, nor do they even care about what we think. It's a shame I have to dig to find any news on Ukraine :(

The economic situation in Ukraine may be the result of bad fiscal policies. But, if the Ukraine not having a Free Trade Agreement and accession to the E.U is the reason for the protest, then I have to say that the protestors are very, very wrong and not very well informed about the consequences of consummating the agreement at this juncture in time. The political gamble of trying to manipulate Russia, the IMF and E.U. against each other was a failure. Ukraine could not afford to comply with the reforms demanded by the IMF in energy subsidies, payroll freeze, etc. for the FTA and accession to the E.U. to be consummated. It is true that Russia's sanctions against Ukraine (80% reduction in rail shipments to Russia for example)started the economic doom spiral, but, the IMF conditions demanded seal the decision for the Ukrainian government to turn to Russia, its most important place for exports and trading partner and mend the broken trading relationships. The visit to China, the number one Creditor nation in the World, by the Ukrainian President was necessary to try to obtain loans to replace the ones promised by the IMF. The President of Ukraine decision not to sign on with the E.U. Free Trade Agreement, was the right decision and his people should be supportive of his decision instead of wanting to tar and feather him....a FTA with the EU requires Ukraine to commit to reforms that are deeper than removal of tariffs. One very important reality is that Ukrainian products quality is not up to international standards. The problem with this in a FTA arrangement is that value adding industries in Ukraine would be destroyed by foreign industries and even though the E.U. would help with the reforms, Ukraine would be at a disadvantage for quite some time...

Ukraine has potential:
- aerospace engineering. There's a vast skilled workforce being paid mere pennies to do work for Soyuz/ Russian military jets/ civilian aircraft with no real market anywhere. That skilled workforce could easily and rapidly be mobilized to designing & manufacturing components for Airbus & Boeing (both are under capacity with full order books; both are investing & expanding; both would love a high-skill & available workforce like Ukraine's). Likewise eurocopter.

- Ukraine has a vast and ferociously competitive steel industry (involving specialist alloys & related engineering expertise). That guarantees rapid integration into the supply chain for European car manufacturers. Just as German & Italian car assembly has migrated to Poland and Slovakia, it would likely move into Ukraine fast (creating jobs & higher wages) due to Ukraine's cost advantage.

- abundant local grain means Ukraine could easily produce 100% of the EU's eggs & chicken (and more besides) at less than half the prices than prevail on EU markets (boneless skinless chicken breast at €2.90/kg in Ukraine's supermarkets vs €10.75/kg in Tesco; eggs at €0.069/egg in Ukraine vs €0.155 in Tesco)

...
(Really, this list is endless. Ukraine is very well placed to prosper, if only its businesses were able to access global markets.)

Integrated in EU & world markets & supply chains, many more Ukrainian workers could actually earn hard currency and access the many things we take for granted.

Certainly, freedom & tackling corruption matters more. But on exports & economic success, the example of *every other* ex-soviet economy is evidence enough: Ukraine would be more prosperous as an open economy integrated in Europe.

In 1989 when the 'Iron Curtain' fell, Poland (Ukraine's neighbor) had a GDP which was significantly lower than that of Ukraine. Further, contrary to popular opinion NOT all Poles were nationalist capitalists. 40% supported the ruling communists - BUT - both capitalists and 'socialists' were able to negotiate a solution for their country to move as quickly as possible into the EU because they understood that their standard of living would rise. Twenty five years later Poland's standard of living when measured by GDP is significantly higher than is Ukraine's. This was the scenario that the Ukrainians wanted for themselves. The problem is that Ukrainian president Yanukovych is a corrupt person who only wishes to enrich himself and his family (including criminal mafia) and has no interest in helping his people improve their standard of living.

I've been to Ukraine many times now. I'm American. I have gotten to see the corruption first hand. If you go to Kiev you will notice a semi modern city...but go outside of kiev and people are still using candles and wells. My wife never used a vacuum cleaner, crock pot, electric can opener, and never heard of relish! I said long ago that Ukraine needed a FTA with the EU. I couldn't believe when they were in talks that I might have predicted the future...then at the last minute, Their President backed out. I instantly told my wife "This is very bad for your country, you needed this!" As I suspected, I was right again with people coming from all over Ukraine to protest. I couldn't believe my eyes watching it streamed live. I wish our Americans would fight like Ukrainians are right now. We have the most corrupt government in the world and our government is a well oiled machine in convincing people protesters are domestic terrorist! If you were to get a trade deal with the EU it can lift strict Visa restrictions for Ukrainians so they can look elsewhere for work and bring work into their country. They do have an advanced aerospace industry, nuclear arms industry, and Ukraine has the finest soil in the world. It saddens me to know that teachers and doctors make about $200-$300 a month while in USA a doctors can make hundreds of thousands a year while backing pharmaceutical companies and health care insurance providers. Ukraine can prosper like any other European country. It's the biggest European country. Yanukovych and his piano playing political thugs need to be removed from office and tried for political crimes against Ukraine. Blue and Gold...I support you!!! Long live Ukraine and it's great people!

Nobody will give cash to Ukraine until there are good guarantees that it won't be squandered or stolen by Yanukovych's family and friends. Ukraine is among the most corrupt countries on the globe, way more corrupt than Russia that is almost the world's hallmark of corruption. You have to democratise and reform your economy first or go with Russia in this race to the bottom.

What you are talking about? Who is going to ever accept Ukraine to EU? A month ago Yanukovich was good guy, and now he became corrupt? Please try to think. He was always corrupt, and Ukraine isn't joining EU in coming decades.

Even though your analysis is more inspiring than thorough, the economy, or the economy-friendly policies, as a rule, don't feature high on the voters' lists of priorities during Ukrainian elections. The trouble with even "well-educated" here is that they know a lot, but that lot is mostly rubbish designed to clog their minds. The problem lies not only with the mostly rotten universities, but with the still predominantly-Soviet mindset: any well-packaged bullshit is more convincing than what would work anywhere. The former commies who were well-placed to snap assets for nothing don't need their employees-serfs leaving them or even worse – becoming competitors. Thus the ruling crooks are happy to have what they got rather than risking to lose the loot for the sake of those fancy and even dangerous words – democracy and Europe.

Sorry, this is off topic but where on earth did you get your 40%? From the beginning of Soviet occupation per-procura (aka "Soviet Block")right until the end, communists had hardly any support in Poland. In 1980 1/3 (one third) of the entire Polish nation joined the civil disobedience movement "Solidarity" - add family members to that and you see how many were against the Soviet-installed regime. The only ones who weren't was a bunch of PZPR (party) and secret services members and their families.
But you've got one thing right: 100% of Poles, including the Soviet-installed stoodges from PZPR, were dead determined to join the EU. Nobody had the slightest doubt Russia is the worst possible thing that can happen to anyone under the sun.
So it's a fact support for joining the EU was stronger in Poland than in the Ukraine today.

Hahahahahaha, what? Americans are fools who don't know how good they have it, so you always have to pretend things are worse than they really are to feel like you're struggling alongside everyone else.

The US government is one of the least corrupt in the world and your top leaders are actually not that wealthy, especially compared to the size of the American GDP.

The presidents and ministers/senators in even small Russian client states and African countries are all billionaires. The same applies to Putin and his allies in the legislature, as well as Jinping and his family.

But of course, you just have to insist that your government is the MOST corrupt in the world... stop crying.

The World will be 'celebrating' 200 miles away from the Ukraine in two months at the Sochi Winter Olympics.

There is an Army of Press and world attention to this closed part of the world. Satellites, News anchors, Diplomats, Interviews, Tours.

And Chechnya is still simmering and 200 miles away to the east.
Terrorists are committed to the Olympics too.

---

This could be the Perfect Storm for Mr Putin.
You cannot just kill the protesters and steamroll them with an armored division when you are trying to create an Olympic Potmekin Village and sense of international comradeship.

Ukraine is a society combining utterly different cultures that have been united into one polity relatively recently. While for one part of the country the values of modern Western civilization may look like an appealing choice, for the other, and I should add, very sizeable part of Ukraine these largely hedonistic values don’t look appealing at all.
The point I am trying to make is very simple. Any revolution that tries to take power under the banners of a European choice is bound to lead to “a clash of civilizations” in Ukraine with Western and Eastern parts of the country fighting a bitter and senseless civil war.
Any sensible politician who wants to wrestle Ukraine from thugs without losing half of its territory should find a different in kind rallying point for the protest movement. Moreover, the time for action must be such as to make that action legitimate. Presidential elections of 2015 will provide ample opportunities to legitimately contest powers that be. It must be done under the slogans that can be widely supported by the entire population regardless of their language or geography. It must also be done by a person/party who is capable to speak successfully to both East and West. The task of the opposition, therefore, should be to find/create that person/party and to formulate that kind of a unifying message between now and 2015. I am more than confident that the vast majority of Ukrainians will respond enthusiastically to a very simple message of bringing robber barons to justice, eliminating corruption in police, creating just and simple rules for economic life, protecting economically disadvantaged, etc

Elections need to occur NOW. Time is an enemy in this situation as it will only serve to breed further contempt, if not an outright civil war.

It's foolish to wait until 2015 for the next elections. The only person who benefits from waiting is Yanukovich and his cabal as this will give him more time to silence, round up and imprison his opponents and put in place the machinations for fixing the electoral boxes in his favor (afterall, this is what he did in 2005). A snap election would be difficult for the opposition as it would not afford them much time to organize, but at least it would reduce the tensions that are building and make it more difficult for Yanukovich to fix the elections.

Recent poles indicate that roughly 52% of Ukrainian support the integration of their nation into the European Union whereas only 14% would like to integrate into the Russian lead Customs Union. The others have not made up their minds or have no opinions. When these numbers are further examined it is clear that even in the Eastern part of the country there is strong support for European integration, specifically amongst the young and educated, including Russians who are the largest minority in the country. For example, all three former presidents and their children support the protesters. All the Ukrainian churches (Orthodox and Catholic) support Euro integration and have made this fact known. In fact, many Orthodox and Eastern Rite Catholic priests have participated in the protests. My point is, that there is no "clash of civilizations" taking place. There is simply a very very corrupt president who is preventing his own people from actualizing their aspirations which resemble European values and not those of the former Soviet Union.

Western and Eastern parts of the country fighting a bitter and senseless civil war...
---
Is a Moscow wet dream, nothing more. Those remnant Soviet pensioners will never fight for anything, except for the bottle of cheap vodka in the store.

May I advise you to prepare your posts more thoroughly. It's a nice post in general, and quite compelling, but why you mention 'all three former presidents and their children'? How many billions they stole? It is enough to ignore the fact that a month ego, when Yanukovich was looking westward, you didn't care whether he was a crook or not.

The article stipulates unfounded innuendo as fact - who are these "agents provocateurs" and who are these "bussed goons"? Couldn't the explanation simply be that the protesters were violent and the police responded in kind? Shameful misinformation.

What is pretty clear is that the Ukrainian fascist groups like "Svoboda" are playing a very big role in the protests. And speaking of Eastern Ukraine, and the sizable ethincally Russian minority there and elsewhere (20% of the total population), why would it support people who venerate World Wart II Ukrainian Nazi collaborators. Svoboda, for instance, lists Bendera as a hero. And these are the people that the Economist thinks represent the future of Ukraine. Simply shameful.

We despise the Nazis today because we're cognisant of their ethnic cleansing and blame them for WWII.

Coming from Ukraine, the Holocaust wouldn't be the first association. Rather, Stalin butchered more Ukrainians in the 1930s than died throughout WWII; Nazi Germany was seen as a liberator in Ukraine (as people were liberated from slave labor conditions, as farmers were given back individual land, as the German occupying force actually paid wages for most laborers), and over 80 thousand of the soldiers attacking Stalingrad were Ukrainian volunteers.

When Stalin won, he butchered, conscripted, force-relocated several million Ukrainians to Russia's internal frontiers (to die)... and condemned Ukraine to decades under authoritarian "communism". And to the present corrupt aftermath.

For people coming from Ukraine - especially for less educated people - the first association with neo-nazis is radical anti-communists. Their popularity is understandable. And Ukraine's neo-nazis look respectable enough to be part of government.

Even more importantly, they aren't just anti-communist: they are also perceived as the only well-organized alternative to corrupted mainstream politics. Rightly so. Their competence, free-market emphasis, ability to organize and social solidarity are all better properties & principles than anything you can pin to Yanukovych.

There are many credible reports including video evidence which supports the claim that "agents provocateurs" (a.k.a. "Bussed Goons) were in fact working closely with the police to create an illusion the peaceful demonstrators were violent. For this reason the European Union, the USA, Canada and many other countries condemned the GOVERNMENT instigated violence.

Svoboda is a right wing Ukrainian political party which loves all that which is Ukrainian. They do not venerate NAZIS at all. This is simply Soviet turned pro-communist propaganda - in fact the very type that the pro-government (Yanukovych + Putin) forces pay agents of disinformation to post in western media outlets.

This reads a lot like a post by the Regions Party PR department. The shameful thing is that political parties keep using WW2-era events and the East-West divide to rile people up against one another, while real problems go unsolved. This post is a great example of this as it distills the entire opposition to one party and then that party's entire platform to one long-dead but divisive figure. Is Bandera a hero, a criminal or some combination of the two? Whatever the case he's not going to fix the roads,reform the tax code, increase labor productivity, or do anything remotely useful. And this is what people on both sides of the Dnipro want. The tragic consequence of this divide is that Ukrainians always split into a pro-Russian camp and a pro-Western camp, never the pro-Ukrainian camp. The country needs to stop looking to Brussels or Moscow to solve its problems. Signing either agreement may not be in the best interest of Ukraine, but neither is keeping the current government in place.

I'm sorry but your statement that "over 80 thousand of the soldiers attacking Stalingrad were Ukrainian volunteers." Is completely wrong if you are alleging that they were serving in the German Army. However, if you mean that these volunteers served in the Soviet Army, then its probably an underestimation for Stalingrad.
There was one division that ever served in the German Army: the SS Galician Division which was composed of 20,000 men. They never fought anywhere past Brody which is in Lviv Oblast deep in Western Ukraine. There were also were also a couple of units: Nachtigal and Rolland , which were composed of about 800 men each. Like it or not, Ukrainians served in the millions in the Soviet Army. No, they weren't fighting "for Stalin", they were freeing their country from the Nazis who killed around 6.5 million Ukrainians. Of course in Galicia (today's Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil oblasts), the Ukrainian Insurgent Army was strong which had between 25,000 and over 100,000 men serving in its ranks. They fought against the Soviet NKVD and the Nazis.
As for the Nazis being welcome in Ukraine. Yes, they were welcomed at first, but this changed very quickly as soon as they started murdering the local population. Furthermore, when the Ukrainians nationalists entered Lviv along with the German Army, they proclaimed Ukraine's independence. The German's then immediately arrested most of the nationalist leaders like Stetsko and Bandera. So, the Germans made enemies very quickly. Furthermore, I don't know where you got your information about Ukrainians being "liberated from slave labor conditions, as farmers were given back individual land, as the German occupying force actually paid wages for most laborers". The Germans were known to actually keep in place collective farms and they starved and murdered the population. That's why 6.5 million Ukrainians died in WWII.

I have a very simple answer to your question - "who are these "agents provocateurs", some of them were filmed as riot leaders and later identified as police officers (Kyiv's Berkut commander among them), Ukrainian media show these materials.
And please, do not mention the Russian minority here. My Russian wife now stands in Maidan in the heart of Kyiv, for a free Ukraine. Free of that clique, as FT rightfully put it.
PS. The plan (ban, freeze, etc) is good but the West should act now, not talk, now.

Dear Agafia, shaun39 is probably referring to the "voluntary helpers" recruited from soviet POW. As far as I remember reading about this, their numbers with the Paulus´s troops came up to approximately 70 thousands, they where not allowed to take combatant roles and, obviously, not all of them where Ukrainians. But, anyway, it is not about SS Galychyna (Ukrainian transliteration).

Well, Shaun39 I do happen to come from Ukraine. And must say that your comment reveals an ignorance of history. In fact, more Ukrainians died in WWII either serving at the front, or as a result of atrocities by Nazis and their collaborators, than in Holodomor by a factor of 2. That includes my grandmother's entire family of 5 people in Odessa. But that historical revisionism is very understandable, since "true" Ukrainians do not regard Ukrainian Jews, or Russian Ukrainians as "real" Ukrainians. So maybe your focus on WWII Ukrainian casualties conveniently leaves out those "other" Ukrainians.

To those "other" Ukrainians, words like Bandera evoke mass graves dug up outside of cities by the same people who were then put in those graves. And also those "other" Ukrainians (like my grandfather) volunteered to fight in the Soviet army to free Ukraine (and yes fought at Stalingrad as well).

This is why Ukraine is so divided. And why viewing what's going on in Ukraine through the prism of Western demonstrators is so misleading.

Well, I do and I will mention the Russian minority. For them, many of them, the principal reason for voting for Yanukovich was his promise (which he fulfilled) of making Russian an official language. Imagine that! That a country where 80% of the population has Russian as its primary language would not recognize it as an official language.

The West, my friend, tends to respect free elections, not coups against freely elected leaders. I believe that message has already been conveyed.

you lied twice. 80%? Look at the Ukrainian census of 2001: Russian was reported as mother language by 29.6%, now, their share is even lower.
and this figure has nothing to do with support for Yanyk - Ukrainians simply do not want to see criminals ruling their country.
A LIAR.

Like in Syria, The Beast and Nato will covertly support the Nazi-linked groups (read the Al Qaeda-linked groups) to overthrow another crony of the Vlad. My prediction that the cunning master politician will soon out-maneuver the Beast's intentions.

VS350 - I know what the "official statistics" say. In practicality, Russian is the predominant language outside of Western Ukraine -- even if folks don't like to admit this inconvenient truth.

Mick Golovko - I would agree with every statement in your post. However, given the poisoned state of politics in Ukraine, it's hard to see a party which would coalesce around a platform that appeals to a broad majority of the population.

To be Russian speaking in Ukraine doesn't mean to be pro-Soviet or pro-Russia. I am Russian speaking from the East. And I am pro-Ukraine as well as my environment. Language "problem" doesn't exist in Ukraine. It's an artifice of Putin's propaganda.

to ds1817:
There are a lot of evidence including video that it was government provocation. Please check Google and YouTube first.

If you were TRUE Ukrainian you must know how people of Ukraine hate their criminal officials regardless of the language they speak.

Your statement that "80% of the population has Russian as its primary language" is a COMPLETE LIE!!!! If you actually looked at some academic research, or more importantly the last census, on the matter, you would see that 68% of Ukrainians consider Ukrainian as their mother tongue whereas 30% consider Russian to be their mother. However, 78% of the Ukrainian population are ethnic Ukrainians whereas only 17% are ethnic Russians. The law that you mention did not make Russian a second official language in Ukraine. It simply made other languages (including Russian) an official language in the regions where 10% of the population speaks that language. So, for example, this makes Crimean Tatar an official language in Crimea, which means all the Russians there should be learning it. But do you think that the racist Russians in Crimea who refuse to learn Ukrainian will learn Crimean Tatar? Of course not! So, allow me to make the following prediction: when the opposition comes to power, this law, which was adopted against the Ukrainian Constitution and which broke all the Parliamentary rules of adopting laws, will be canceled. And my suggestion to you is to either learn Ukrainian, if your are not a Ukrainophobe, or move to your favourite country of Russia where you will be much happier. After all, if you hate Ukrainians so much, why would you want to live in a country where 78% of the population are Ukrainian?

Dear Dekhto, With all due respect, I have never ever heard of any significant (even 5,000 would be significant never mind 70-80,000) number of Ukrainians who volunteered to help the German's at Stalingrad or at any other battle for that matter. The Germans hated Ukrainians and certainly did not trust them. The SS Galician Division was the only time that the Germans got together a large number of Ukrainians to do anything for them and it took a great deal of convincing Hitler to make it happen. Yes, Ukrainians were sent for forced labour to Germany and there were INDIVIDUAL Ukrainians who worked for the German police force in Ukraine. However, even this police force was not close to being 70-80,000 strong. Now, excuse my saying but I happen know a little bit more than the average person on Ukraine's WWII history, to put it mildly. So, if I personally never heard of 70-80,000 Ukrainians volunteering for the Germans at Stalingrad (or anywhere else), then believe me, it didn't happen.

Yes, I am sure. There are no people around me experiencing any problem with the language they speak. There are no people around me hating or loving Russia. There are no people around me wishing to split our country. All this nonsense is just constantly pouring out of telescreens. Maybe it's not Putin's one, but definitely a propaganda that has nothing to do with real feelings of the people.
22 years ago I was 11 y.o and, thus, a bit apolitical person.

now ...d...arn it...I thought I was through with this string. But, as inshort would know, a great many Ukrainian men took up arms in collaboration with the Great Liberation Front

...as the Nazi's liked to call it. Remember?

The (sad) funny thing is how the Anglam allies flipped so fast to "recruit" the Nazi agents and intel operatives for the coldwar. And in Uk that meant for two or three years after the end of WWII sending supplies, money and men into the Uk to support a "resistance" "army"

which embarrassingly turned out to be a total fiction run by the GRU, after the Sovs mopped up a few remnants of the collabos that is...

Europe is anemic and all it cares about is pacification at all cost. History repeats itself - Ukraine has fallen to Mongols and has been lost to Europe for next 500 years or so but that's where invaders stopped. Surely, its quite convenient to talk for years about suctions about tyrant with a Russian mobster's name Viktor, but how tempting it is to put his stolen cash into a safe in Geneva. All hopes rest with US.

Ukraine and Thailand presently have similar civil disobedience protest campaigns. I am not qualified to comment on the causes of the Ukraine protests, but in Thailand, the prime minister, who everyone known was elected partially via vote buying, passed in Parliament, in the middle of the night no less, and with proxy voting not allowed under parliamentary rules, an amnesty bill that would exonerate her brother from criminal convictions and return over a billion dollars of confiscated money to her family. When the constitutional court found the amnesty bill unlawful, the prime minister's party declared that they did not recognize the authority of the court. You might forgive the Thai protestors for thinking that such a prime minister must go now, regardless of who won the last vote-buying tainted election.

A very good article but it ends:"Even Mr Putin, who likes his neighbours weak, should recognise that his meddling, and Ukraine’s own pathologies, have brought it to the brink of tragedy."
Do you really think the Chekist polonium poisoner Putin cares about the tragedy of countries which aren't subsumed in his mission to reconstitute a Sovietized Eurasian Union. Putin is no humanitarian, but a egomaniacal Russian imperialist who in his dreams believes every policy against his regime must be the work of the CIA. For him, life is cheap, even Russian lives, like Magnitsky, in his quest for absolute power.
Putin ultimately will fall and be brought down when the price of oil and gas decreases and the people realize Putinstan is just a gigantic petro-station with nuclear rockets. His fall would be a boon for Ukraine. A democratic non-imperialist Russia would finally be able to make friends in the world. Which countries in the world are clamoring to join Russia as any sort of ally? The Armenians? They had to be strong-armed into Putin's Union. Nobody wants orders from Moscow.
Poland could at least join the EU and NATO without Putin committing economic sabotage as he has done with Ukraine. Ukraine has enough problems trying to get rid of its current crook Yanukovych without the crook from the North, Putin, making it worse.

Based on their own inadequacies, the Western media are fond of caricaturing the cronies of Vlad as the latest reincarnation of the cronies of Hisler in order for the Western Beast to perform his historical mission to finish the ultimate Biblical prophecy.

"Putin ultimately will fall and be brought down when the price of oil and gas decreases and the people realize Putinstan is just a gigantic petro-station with nuclear rockets."

It's true, but it'll take longer than we think. Even though the West has displayed a significant progress in deciphering Putin's lies and political trick of Lavrov, there are still too many words said and too many measures taken by Putin's Russia in a bad faith that the west mistakes for good will gestures.

The only way to bring Putin down is limiting imports from Russia if possible or buy just enough to keep global energy prices low to make Russia a permanent price-taker without any powers of monopoly rent-seeking.

The US has a major role to play in this setting, as it became world's largest NG and crude oil producer as of August this year and, by 2016, will have enough NG liquefaction plants and LNG tankers to replace all Gazprom's NG supplies at lower prices (not exceeding $210 per 1000 cm). That would render Gazprom's pipelines useless for a while until the Gazprom's contracts are renegotiated.

This is just an emotion and opinion of one korrespondent. Europe can't do anything and Europe aren't want to do anything. Europe want to start discussing between both of politics side. But now we are in information spase and can talking you about violence to civilians. When discussion will begin real massacre of civilians will start. But nobody will able already talk about this.
Unfortunately formally it will seems as situation under control of
world community.
We need a changes and we will strive for fair future for us and our children in our country... with you or alone.
Kind regards from Ukraine :)

Beware of the Beast who only peddles "Change, Change, Change" hope notion into the innocent minds. Most ordinary folks actually want and need more Cash rather political slogans to better their already miserable lives.

What Ukrainians most need now are more Cash and Investments rather than the West's stupid geo-political games to isolate the allies of the Vlad. Just show the people your Cash and the Ukrainians will naturally reward the West with the right color revolution.

Ukrainians are totally fed up with the current situation in their homeland. They feel unsafe and threatened by the group of criminals who call themselves "government". Who are above the law and actually work against its own ppl.
It's all started as peaceful protest in support of EU direction. At 4am on 30.11.13 the peaceful protesters (ordinary students, some half asleep as it was 4am, amongst whom were children and women) were brutally beaten by police special forces, some people disappeared and currently no one knows where they are.
After that horrible night Ukrainians by all means WOKE UP. People realized that what happened to that group of poor students beaten to death, can happen to everyone.
They are fed up living in fear, they are fed up with corruption at every level,they want fair judicial system which is currently next to non-existing,they want bright future for their country which they see amongst EU states....
It is no money they want and need now. It is justice they want and need. And they are determine to stand for it.
We need your support.

Stop twaddling please. What we need is justice. We, Ukrainian people, are completely able to earn cash without those bloodsuckers who dug us into the throat. We need such a smallness from the West - personal sanctions for thieves and fair trial for them. The "president" of Ukraine is not legitimately elected, he is a crook. Period.

You are totally wrong in your "logic". Ukraine needs investment, not cash, as the current government and the oligarch kleptocracy that supports it cannot be trusted with a single penny or hryvnia of cash.

Nobody sane will extend any loan or other cash injection to Ukraine if they cannot fully control the ways it's used. We already witnessed a festival of idiocy, incompetence and corruption in Poland back in 1971-1980 where over $30 billion of unsecured or government-guaranteed loans were extended to the Gierek administration.

It ended up in the Gdansk protest, the creation of the Solidarity Free Trade Union and, in spite of a desperate attempt made by traitor Jaruzelski and his goons by introducing martial law on the 13th of December 1981, the whole Soviet bloc disintegrated and the Soviet Union was no more in 1991. Will history repeat itself 33 years later?

the best posible way for now how West can help us is to freeze all the banks accounts of the chosen ukrainian politicians. They have chosen the most cruel ways to calm down our people. After they don't have money to sponsor their "black deals", we'll have a chance to change the situation by ourselves.

The West helps. There are Lithuanian and Polish officials on place, you can guess where money come from. They can't shake 'rulers at the Kremlin', because it's a different country. Kremlin doesn't have 'puppets in Kiev', if you are referring to Ukrainian rulers. Only a month ago they were looking westward. They are looking which cow gives more milk and are nobody's puppets. Just a few minor corrections.

Since when is $5bn (Russia's purported offer) more than $10bn (the EU's offer)? Maybe you also need to refresh your arithmetic skills, like Yanukobych. Oops, I forgot! It's coming from Poutine, that master of honest gamesmanship. I wonder how much of the $5bn will even show up?

One more note. I am not 'Poutine', as you can easily notice yourself, assuming you are literate. Why you wonder? Did he ever break his word? He is your peer? No, he is not. You might like him or not, but he is a statesman with honour. Try to respect yourself, this way you will learn to respect others. Regards.

have to respect other compatriots' views...
---
They aren't compatriots, mostly. Half of them weren't born in Ukraine. They are recently arrived migrants, complete strangers. They voted for Yanukovich, which fact cannot be respected in no way.

Who would possibly go there?
---
Russians, of course. 3 613 240 of them were born in Russia, not in Ukraine. Before 1991, mostly. It's a half of population. The rest of them are migrants in the second generation, mostly.

How many countries of the mature West, would allow demonstrations to force a change of leadership? The separation of the environment from the dilemma (West) creates a comparison, allowing for a vivid snapshot of the state of environment in Ukraine.

The 2004 Crib?
Identical twins in a crib, both equally hungry. One cries. Who gets bottled first? Nine years later, twins at the dinner table, both equally hungry. One cries. Who gets disciplined i.e., left to own devices by West? Same twin. (The Ukrainian people do not appear famished, nor show signs of torment. Child deportation to labor camps? The women dress like women in the West.)

It's understandable, the Ukrainians want to be richer, and richer now. Some of them believe the EU is the way to do that. However, a Ukrainian environment could conclude, that Russia will be a global energy supplier for as long as the globe consumes fossil fuels; several vital types of them.

Translation: The dilemma, in its current form, exists partly because of an environment. Instead of the environment being cultivated as a means of resolution, it is a catalyst for a disruption to itself. Not that uncommon, as environmental history has recorded.

If you know Ukraine then you must know that in Ukraine people, general population, are using natural gas produced in Ukraine. Big factories controlled by welthy families are using Russian gas for production. Metal, Chemicals, etc. Of course nobody wants to pay more for gas in those industries because it would lower margin profits. That debt for gas also produced by those industries and it will be paid by people of Ukraine ;)

"Russia will be a global energy supplier for as long as the globe consumes fossil fuels; several vital types of them."

You have overstated your case for Russia by thousands of miles! Global energy supplier ? Take a quick and sober look at Russian gas and crude oil exports: most of Gazprom's export is destined to Central and Western Europe using the Soviet-era pipeline systems, now supported by the limited North Stream supply to Germany. Russia supplies no gas to the Americas, or South-East Asia, or Australia, or Africa, but you are claiming 'global' supply. Even the very limited Sakhalin gas supplies, despite geographic proximity in the Pacific, cannot compete with LNG imports from Indonesia, Persian Gulf, Australia, etc. into Japan, S. Korea, Taiwan, China's coast, etc. There are now at least 20 gas producing countries capable of shipping LNG to almost any destination. Russia is way, way down on the list of global LNG producers, it has already lost a significant market potential with the advent of shale gas supplies in North America. And you are still claiming Russia's 'global' reach ?

I was disappointed to hear about Anna's retirement. I was at her '07 US Semi. I think Kuznetsova cheated.

Global reach? Yes. I was referring more to Russia's percentage of global supply. (Coal, Oil?)

We proponents of democratic philosophy have learned over the last couple of centuries, that politicizing economics can be less profitable than realism. Such politicizing can give birth to 'economic philosophies', most of them never proven beyond a ballot box.

Your position now destroyed, I will acknowledge, after some philosophical-democratic-fact-checking, that you're essentially correct generalizations -- reflect politization. A Double-Fault, of sorts.

Such forms of subsidy are sometimes necessary and sometimes exploited. Most all subsides in the US are condemned as political favors by various political groups. The recent financial crisis precipitated many bail-outs, that will be shared by many citizens --- of the world.

My position, from where I am, is and was, that Ukraine's Fast Track to affluence is already paved, to Russia. I do not believe that means friendly Trade relations with the EU is a no-no, only that Ukraine has got a Daddy. If it hurts to have to have a Daddy, well ...

Such forms of subsidy are sometimes necessary and sometimes exploited. Most all subsides in the US are condemned as political favors by various political groups. The recent financial crisis precipitated many bail-outs, that will be shared by many citizens --- of the world.

My position, from where I am, is and was, that Ukraine's Fast Track to affluence is already paved, to Russia. I do not believe that means friendly Trade relations with the EU is a no-no, only that Ukraine has got a Daddy. If it hurts to have to have a Daddy, well ...